This is slightly old news, but I'm posting it here just in case anyone missed it. Gao's elder brother reports that he was recently informed by a police official that Gao had "lost his way and gone missing" (迷路失踪) last September [Chinese report | English report]. You might think this is unlikely, given that the authorities have by now pretty much admitted that they've had Gao in custody since his disappearance in February 2009 (see here and here). And you'd be right. This is an announcement that the government does not intend to produce Gao. Draw your own conclusions.